San Francisco's sack charge about to kick in

By Stacy Finz

Published 1:53 am, Saturday, September 22, 2012

Photo: Brant Ward

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Cole Hardware customer Michael Asip (left) gets his free red bag from cashier Claudia Villalon Thursday September 20, 2012, one of the last days of free bags. On October 1 San Francisco's bag ordinance goes into effect charging 10 cents if a customer wants a bag. Cole Hardware, a San Francisco institution, is ahead of the game posting signs announcing the change and doing away with plastic bags years ago. less

Cole Hardware customer Michael Asip (left) gets his free red bag from cashier Claudia Villalon Thursday September 20, 2012, one of the last days of free bags. On October 1 San Francisco's bag ordinance goes ... more

Dave Karp, founder of Cole Hardware, is pictured near the entrance to the Polk Street store with a sign announcing the bag fee charge. On October 1 San Francisco's bag ordinance goes into effect charging 10 cents if a customer wants a bag. Cole Hardware, a San Francisco institution, is ahead of the game posting signs announcing the change and doing away with plastic bags years ago. less

Dave Karp, founder of Cole Hardware, is pictured near the entrance to the Polk Street store with a sign announcing the bag fee charge. On October 1 San Francisco's bag ordinance goes into effect charging 10 ... more

Photo: Brant Ward

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Cole Hardware marketing coordinator Julia Strzesieski shows off the shopping bags Cole Hardware makes available for a small charge. On October 1 San Francisco's bag ordinance goes into effect charging 10 cents if a customer wants a bag. Cole Hardware, a San Francisco institution, is ahead of the game posting signs announcing the change and doing away with plastic bags years ago. less

Cole Hardware marketing coordinator Julia Strzesieski shows off the shopping bags Cole Hardware makes available for a small charge. On October 1 San Francisco's bag ordinance goes into effect charging 10 cents ... more

Photo: Brant Ward

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At Cole Hardware, signs near cash registers announce the upcoming bag fee. Cole, a San Francisco institution, is ahead of the game, posting signs announcing the change and doing away with plastic bags years ago. less

At Cole Hardware, signs near cash registers announce the upcoming bag fee. Cole, a San Francisco institution, is ahead of the game, posting signs announcing the change and doing away with plastic bags years ... more

Photo: Brant Ward

San Francisco's sack charge about to kick in

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SAN FRANCISCO - Starting Oct. 1, BYOB in San Francisco will take on a whole new meaning.

Then, shoppers will have to bring their own bags when buying booze - and just about anything else - or incur a charge.

The city's new Checkout Bag Ordinance requires that all retailers, with the exception of restaurants, bakeries and take-out joints (they don't have to make the change until 2013), switch from plastic bags to paper or compostable and charge customers a dime for each sack.

City government believes paper bags are more environmentally friendly but would ultimately like to see consumers switch to reusable totes.

But the city doesn't want to put a financial burden on businesses by forcing them to give up plastic bags, a cheaper alternative to paper, and hopes the 10-cent charge will allay the added expense, said Friday Apaliski, outreach coordinator for the San Francisco Department of the Environment.

In 2007, San Francisco was the first city in the nation to ban large chain supermarkets and pharmacies from using plastic shopping bags. Now San Francisco, joins 49 other cities and counties in the country that require all retailers to use only paper - or in some cases, compostable - bags and to charge for them.

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Tim James, of the California Grocers Association, said since 2007 the big supermarkets in San Francisco have been losing $80,000 a year on the cost of paper bags. Paper grocery sacks run 7 cents to 12 cents, while plastic costs only 1 or 2 cents, he said. In other cities where the charge was implemented, James said, they are now seeing 90 percent of their customers bringing in reusable bags.

"So there is no moneymaking going on here," he said, adding that at least now supermarkets will break even on the bags. "We don't typically support regulations on our industry. But we're supporting this one."

But what has been the reaction of customers?

"Any time you make a change like this there's pushback," he said. "But the overwhelming reaction in other cities has been customers embracing it. I won't say they're cheering in the aisles, but they're bringing their own bags."

Jon Ballesteros, vice president of public policy for the San Francisco Travel Association, said he hopes merchants are transparent about the charge. Tourism in San Francisco is an $8 billion business, and Ballesteros wants to make sure visitors are not caught off guard by the ordinance.

But Stephen Joseph, a lawyer for the Save the Plastic Bag coalition, a contingent of bag manufacturers, distributors and citizens, who unsuccessfully sued the city over the ordinance and plans to appeal, said the charge is bound to affect tourism.

"This is no way to welcome visitors," he said. "Furthermore, it's going to cause more garbage. What's going to happen is they're going to buy those paper bags - it's not like they're going to travel to San Francisco with reusable ones - and then they're going to dump their bags when they get on their plane to leave town."

Whether reusable bags are eco-friendly or not, Joseph argues that they are "horribly" unsanitary.

"San Francisco is encouraging people to put their food in the same bags they carry their gym clothes, the same bags in which they carry their underwear," he said. "These bags don't get washed, and they are filthy."

The charge for paper bags is not taxable and the cost must appear on a shopper's receipt, Apaliski said. In the last couple of months, the Department of Environment has been preparing San Francisco's 9,000 retailers for the October deadline. Apaliski said staffers have visited more than 5,000 businesses, mailed out 9,000 letters and given out thousands of posters and placards for shopkeepers to post.

Retailers who don't comply could receive up to a $500 fine. Julia Strzesieski, marketing coordinator for Cole Hardware, said her four stores are ready to go. Though the hardware shops weren't included in the initial 2007 plastic bag ban, it complied voluntarily.

"We felt it was worth the cost of doing business to go paper only," she said, adding that at least 25 percent of customers bring their own bags.

As far as starting to charge for paper shopping bags in October: "We don't think it's going to be that big of a deal. Bringing your own bag is in vogue. The Europeans have been doing it for years."